1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a chair having a swivel base assembly, and more particularly to a swivel base lockout assembly for disabling the rotational degree of freedom provided by a swivel plate located between a base and a chair.
2. Description of Related Art
Swivel chairs are used in a wide variety of environments, and particularly in the homes to provide the convenience of being able to swivel about a stationary base to more easily reach nearby tables, magazine racks, home office or entertainment equipment, or to direct the orientation of the chair to a particular point of focus such as a television, a fireplace or other persons present in the room in which the chair is located. Recognizing the desirability of this feature, chair manufacturers optionally equip different chairs with a swivel mechanism to provide this comfort feature. However, by offering this option, the permutations of chair configurations greatly increase for the chair manufacturers. More specifically, a chair manufacturer may be required to offer a chair design in a stationary base assembly and a swivel base assembly. The addition of these options adds significant cost and complexity to the manufacturing costs of these chairs.
Shipping and handling difficulties present another drawback of chairs equipped with swivel base assemblies. More specifically, a chair equipped with a swivel base assembly is difficult to handle since the base rotates independent from the chair frame. Moreover, chairs which are not packaged within boxes when shipped may shift during shipping causing damage to the chair and its mechanisms or destruction of the chair upholstery.